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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Menage is the Word

First of all, I want to thank Minx and the other Naughty Girls for inviting me to talk about one of my favorite subjects – writing sex scenes. More specifically today – writing ménage.

Chains of Desire, a futuristic BDSM novel, which will be released by Ellora’s Cave this Friday, the 29th, includes my first ménage. I admit I was a little nervous about my first time, but in the end I was pretty darn satisfied.

I’ve heard many writers say they’ve gotten ideas for stories from dreams and I always though that would be so cool to have happen. But I never had until a year or so ago, when I woke up with the image of a petite blonde, bound and on her knees between two large hunks, servicing them front and rear. That image stuck with me and I was finally able to give life to those people in Chains of Desire.

There are certain challenges to write a ménage – and not just keeping track of all the limbs. There are all those extra sensations and emotions to deal with when three people come together intimately. That’s really important. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the choreography that you can forget about the people, forget about their desires and fears, their actions and reactions to everything that’s going on.

I admit my favorite part of writing (and reading) a ménage scene is experiencing with the heroine the intense sensations she feels when two men focus all their attention on her. Two pairs of hands on her body, coaxing the tingles and quivers and throbs from her that can be nearly overwhelming. Two mouths on her, teasing her with lips and tongues and teeth in two places at once. Two cocks filling her, driving her arousal even higher. I want to give myself over to the sensations as well.

Sensations began to overwhelm her. The sharp pain in her nipples alternated with the spears of pleasure shooting between her legs. She had to remember to breathe when Micah pulled back from her throat, before he thrust again. His moans gave her pleasure. Jarrod’s fingers and cock continued to slide in and out of her body, making her nearly spiral out of control. His groans of pleasure sang to her. Her body rocked wildly between them.

But then there are the emotions – and they can often be confusing to the characters dealing with a threesome. Some ménages are a one-time thing, but that still doesn’t mean there can’t be jealousy as the hero shares the woman he feels strongly about with someone else. And the woman may feel conflicted if the second man arouses her as much as the hero does. And if this is a committed threesome, or you have some male on male action going on too, don’t neglect the realistic emotions the characters may try to ignore, because sooner or later they have to deal with those emotions if the readers are going to believe in your happy ending.

Micah had circled around behind her and was clearly admiring her ass. A stab of jealousy pierced Jarrod’s chest. He knew he had to get over it this time. If this didn’t work, he’d spend the rest of his life haunted by the images of hundreds of men enjoying her body. The thought burned his stomach like acid.

When you get right down to it, writing a ménage scene is really no different that writing any other sex scene. The choreography is the minor detail, the sensations and emotions your characters are feeling is what really matters. With ménage there’s just a little bit more.

I will be giving away a free download of Chains of Desire to one lucky commenter. I’ll be soon working on another ménage, an erotic short for Red Sage, so I’ll ask this question of all the readers today. What do you look for in a ménage? Why do you enjoy reading them? I'll hold the contest open until the end of the month. Be sure to stop back to here on May 31st to find out if you're the winner!

Chains of Desire looks wonderful. My favorite part of a menage is reading the intensity of what the person in the middle is feeling. To have two people seeing to your every desire is incredibly hot, but as I too am finding, a challenge to write!

Natasha, like you, I'm fairly new to the menage world (having encountered it for the first time in an erotic romance in Marly's Choice by Lora Leigh). But once I had my eyes opened, I jumped in with both, ah, feet. I love intense, complex love scenes and with a threesome (or moresome) you just ramp up the intensity that much more. And I think it offers a great opportunity for an author to progress a relationship and expose emotions - the situation is just that much more raw and powerful. Me, I've got no problem with foursomes even - but once you get beyond that? Where do all the parts go? Chains of Desire sounds marvelously hot! Great luck with it and your upcoming Red Sage short - I'd heard they were wanting to up the ante, as it were and were moving into the steamier territory.

Great blog! I love writing menages because of the complexities of the situation. It's hard enough when there are two people and all their insecurities, and intensity, but when there's three (or more) I like all the permutations that can arise. Can't wait to read Chains of Desire!